I. M, R. G. C. B, 1878
THE ways of Death are soothing and serene,And all the words of Death are grave and sweet.From camp and church, the fireside and the street,She beckons forth—and strife and song have been.
A summer night descending cool and greenAnd dark on daytime’s dust and stress and heat,The ways of Death are soothing and serene,And all the words of Death are grave and sweet.
O glad and sorrowful, with triumphant mienAnd radiant faces look upon, and greetThis last of all your lovers, and to meetHer kiss, the Comforter’s, your spirit lean . . .The ways of Death are soothing and serene.
Words in this poem
- fireside n.
- A place near the fire or hearth; home; domestic life or retirement.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- comforter n.
- One who administers comfort or consolation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I. M, R. G. C. B, 1878 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1568; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. E. Henley, I. M, R. G. C. B, 1878, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/i-m-r-g-c-b-1878.html, id L12381.
Form and metre
I. M, R. G. C. B, 1878 is 13 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -AA- serene · sweetA · streetA · been
- 2 ABAB greenA · heatB · sereneA · sweetB
- 3 ABBAA mienA · greetB · meetB · leanA · sereneA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE ways of Death are soothing and serene, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And all the words of Death are grave and sweet. | 10 | ·········· |
| From camp and church, the fireside and the street, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| She beckons forth—and strife and song have been. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A summer night descending cool and green | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And dark on daytime’s dust and stress and heat, | 10 | ···/······ |
| The ways of Death are soothing and serene, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And all the words of Death are grave and sweet. | 10 | ·········· |
| O glad and sorrowful, with triumphant mien | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| And radiant faces look upon, and greet | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| This last of all your lovers, and to meet | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Her kiss, the Comforter’s, your spirit lean . . . | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| The ways of Death are soothing and serene. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.